Just getting to the game could be half the battle

Getting a hotel room won't be the only tough part of a Super Bowl trip. No airline currently operates regular, nonstop service between Logan International Airport and Jacksonville, Fla.

But at least one airline is offering special nonstop service, and several others are beefing up service to handle the onslaught of travelers, though it may already be too late to get a seat.

''If people wait, it's not going to be there," said AirTran Airways spokesman Tad Hutcheson. AirTran added one nonstop from Boston to Jacksonville after the Patriots' victory Sunday night and, by yesterday afternoon, the flight was half-full, he said. Tickets for the flight, which leaves Feb. 4 and returns Feb. 7, are selling for $268 each way in coach and $338 each way in business class.

Delta Air Lines is adding 47 flights to Jacksonville between Feb. 3 and ending Feb. 8, but Boston passengers will have to connect in New York to take advantage of that additional service. Delta also offers connecting flights from Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C.

Northwest Airlines said it will be flying bigger planes and increasing the frequency of its flights to Jacksonville from its hubs in Detroit, Memphis, and Minneapolis, but had no plans to add nonstop service from Boston, said Thomas Becher, a spokesman.

US Airways says it will also be flying bigger planes to Jacksonville from its hubs in Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C., but Boston passengers would have to connect in those cities to take advantage, said spokeswoman Amy Kudwa.

American Airlines, Continental Airlines, and United Airlines also offer Boston-to-Jacksonville that connect in other cities.

And for Pats fans using Manchester Airport in New Hampshire or T.F. Green Airport in Rhode Island, Southwest Airlines flies to Jacksonville connecting through other cities.